Going for a breath of fresh air

Happy days! Morialekafa is going to Europe for a few days where we hope to get some real news for a change. We know now that Bush's so-called town hall meetings are all choreographed and do not allow any dissent whatsoever. And we also know that the so-called news we are getting from our mainstream media is largely faked and follows whatever script the White House authors. We know that so-called reporters have been paid to tout whatever Bush/Cheney want to promote at the moment. The whole press/tv thing is so corrupt and dishonest there is no point in even tuning in or reading anymore. Thank god for the internet. In any case, there will not be a Morialekafa blog until April 1st. As virtually no one reads Morialekafa this should not come as a
major problem. In the interim here is another short story.

Frenchy Don't-you-know

Frenchy lived on the periphery. That wasn't unusual. All of the unmarried miners lived that way. But Frenchy seemed to personify the type, the classic case, except he wasn't a very good miner, perhaps a little below average. When he wasn't mining he bartended for Frenchy Nadieux, a coincidental Frenchman who lived in our town and owned the Turf Club. I don't know why it was called the Turf Club; the nearest race track was a hundred miles away. Anyway, Frenchy Don't-You-Know wasn't a very good bartender either, although passable when sober. He wasn't an alcoholic, just a binge drinker like most of the other miners. When he was on one of his binges he didn't appear at the Turf Club or next door in the card room where my father worked. He didn't want my father to see him drunk. My father didn't drink. He always felt that gambling and drinking didn't mix. He had no moral scruples about it, he just refrained for business reasons. But as he didn't do it, he didn't like it.
I never understood why Frenchy and my father were such good friends. My father was married, owned a house and a car, had a son, was settled down. He wore suits and ties and a diamond stickpin. Frenchy didn't own much of anything. Sometimes he lived in a cheap boarding house, sometimes in a dingy hotel room. I'm certain he didn't own a suit or a necktie. My father was big, two hundred and thirty pounds. Frenchy was small, maybe one forty at most. Frenchy was soft spoken and timid. My father, because of his occupation as floor man in a card room, was visible and often in fights. He didn't like the fights but he was very strong and they seldom lasted long. One of his nicknames was "The Big Bull," but no one called him that to his face. Frenchy called him "Bull." He was the only person who did so. Having presumably never married, Frenchy had no family. I assumed that if he had a family they must still be in France. My father might have known but he never discussed Frenchy with anyone. Not even with me, except to explain that he was Frenchy Don't-You-Know, emphasizing the last name. Actually, his name was Donchineux or something like that. I think my father believed that Don't-You-Know would amuse a twelve year old. As I loved my father very much I humored him on such matters.
I guess the main thing Frenchy and father had in common was their love for fishing. During the bass and crappy season we went often, Frenchy and my dad, me and my pal Billy. My dad would cast for bass for a while, and then we'd spend the rest of the time trolling for crappies. Frenchy liked that best. He never learned to cast, being content to row the boat for those who did. When the crappies were hitting we'd catch one after another. Frenchy was just as excited when Billy or I caught one as when he did himself. They were nice fish, black crappies, and usually weighed a pound or a pound and a half. They were good to eat. Frenchy didn't eat them though. He didn't like fish so he left his share with us. He'd even help clean them. Billy and I liked Frenchy a lot. He laughed and told corny stories and had a good time while we rowed slowly around in the hot sun. He was never impatient, never complained about anything. He told us once how he'd been on a raft on a river with another fellow and they'd fallen asleep. The raft had come untied during the night so when they woke up they were far down the river. Frenchy said, "Hey Joe, we ain't here, we're five miles from here." He thought that was a very funny story.
We'd usually go to shore for lunch. After eating our bologna sandwiches and drinking our Orange Crush Billy and I would run off to explore the shoreline or sometimes take a quick swim in the lake. My father liked to swim but Frenchy didn't know how so they sat quietly smoking and talking. They never seemed to run out of conversation. Billy and I didn't pay much attention to what they talked about, nor do I know even now what they discussed so long and seriously. After an hour or so we'd all get back into the rented boat and fish until it began to get dark. That was the best time for bass fishing. Frenchy would row and dad would cast for a while and then Billy and I would take turns. Billy was really good at it. I was kind of so-so. We didn't always catch fish, but we had a good time.
Mr. Don't-You-Know didn't pay much attention to Billy and me directly but we knew he was interested in us. He asked my father how we were doing in school, were we playing ball, did we like girls, stuff like that. My father would occasionally report that he had seen Frenchy and he had asked about us. The Frenchman's interest in our lives became more obvious the year Billy and I turned fourteen. We were caught in a rainstorm on one of our fishing trips. The four of us ran for the big maroon Hudson, hoping the rain would stop. As the two men lit their cigarettes Frenchy turned to us extending the pack, "We know you boys smoke," he said, "so you might as well go ahead." We were stunned! We sat speechless, dumbly looking at each other, wondering what to do. How could Frenchy know we smoked? But as my father showed no surprise we lit up, trying to be very grown up but giggling with embarrassment at the same time.
Frenchy didn't drive. And he was a narcoleptic of sorts. Sometimes on the way home, sitting in the darkness in the front seat, Frenchy would fall asleep right in the middle of a sentence. When he woke father would say, "Frenchy, we ain't here, we're five miles from here!" The Frenchman would laugh with pleasure at his own story and we could see his even white teeth shining through the five o'clock shadow that was as much a part of him as his unusual yellow and black mackinaw, the smell of strong tobacco, and the exotic accent.
After we parked we'd carry the fish in to show my mother. Frenchy would stand awkwardly inside the door waiting for dad who always walked with him the three blocks to the center of town. Frenchy would go to his hotel, dad would quickly check the action where he worked and then come home. It was a pattern established over many years from which they never deviated. I didn't understand until many years later that Frenchy was uncomfortable in our house and around my mother. I'm sure he liked her, the little he knew her, and as far as I know she liked him also. But he never came to dinner, never visited, never even carried on a conversation with her beyond a polite hello. I never saw him either, outside of fishing, except occasionally when I paid a quick visit to my father at work to get money or give him a message. Frenchy would be standing there watching a poker game or blackjack, or more rarely playing panguingue to pass the time. He didn't like to gamble. I wouldn't have dared enter the Turf Club. It was dark and narrow, a stand-up bar, crowded with serious drinkers and plainly off limits to teenagers. Sometimes Frenchy Nadieux, who was even shorter than our Frenchy and almost completely round, would wave at me through the window as I passed. He didn't actually know me, just my father, but he waved anyway as if we were friends.
The town was the county seat and the heart of a mining district. The permanent population of the town itself was probably no more than four thousand. But it drew miners from all the surrounding mountains and thus it supported thirty-two bars, several with adjoining card rooms, and five thriving whorehouses. Several churches were scattered in a crude suburban ring with only the most tenuous connection to what went on in the city center. Occasionally one of the church ladies complained about having to pass the whorehouses on the way to one of the two movie theatres, but that was about it. As the whores were not allowed to solicit, or even sit in the windows, no one could understand what all the fuss was about. Miners were not generally invited to homes built near churches.
Frenchy lived like the rest of the miners. They were mostly itinerants: Italians, Finns, Swedes, Irishmen, Germans and Missourians. Missourians were considered a distinct category as they had come originally as strikebreakers and were not well liked. The other miners picked fights with them on Saturday nights. Frenchy wasn't sure where Missouri was and had only a dim comprehension of local history. Frenchmen were rare where we lived, which might explain why Frenchy Nadieux hired our Frenchy, but their relationship was strictly business.
Frenchy Don't-You-Know worked in one mine for a time and then another. Sometimes he was fired for not showing up for work, sometimes he just quit. Whether he worked or not he lived exactly the same. A hotel room was home, the counter at the Bus Depot Cafe his usual choice for meals, the bars and card rooms his diversion. He must have visited the whorehouses although his timidity being what it was made it difficult to imagine. His own conversation being limited, he sat and listened to endless discussions of sports, politics, hunting, whores, and off color
stories, making little contribution of his own. Being French, he was often teased when the conversation turned to women. He just smiled and laughed knowingly. No one knew for sure if he was even interested in women. He never spoke of France unless perhaps to my father. In addition to the fishing trips he sometimes went duck hunting with father and some other men, but he had no desire to hunt and only went along to cook. He wasn't much of a cook but as all they ate was ham and eggs and steak and potatoes it didn't matter. Everyone liked Frenchy Don't-You-Know, but I'm sure when he wasn't immediately present people didn't think of him. To those who didn't know him he was just another hardrock miner, an undistinguished face in an undistinguished crowd, a body occupying space but claiming no territory, a self but not a person.
It was not a great surprise when Frenchy's body was found in the lake. It didn't even rate much discussion after the first day or two. Everyone agreed that Frenchy, on one of his binges, had tried to go fishing and in his drunkenness had fallen out of the boat and drowned. It was common knowledge that he couldn't swim. I don't remember where I first heard the news of Frenchy's death but I remember asking my father with tearful eyes if it was true and him saying that it was. I remember most how he looked at me with an intense expression I had never seen before.
"Frenchy didn't fall out of the boat," he said, speaking to me for the very first time as if I were an adult, "and he wasn't drunk. He did it on purpose...he jumped."

Problems? What problems?

Mmmm, let’s see:

We have a trade imbalance with the Chinese and others that is totally unprecedented. It appears that even though there are rules that would allow us to legitimately address this problem the Administration is so far unwilling to employ them. We wouldn’t want to upset the Chinese, you know, they might decide to stop buying and holding our bonds, which, of course, would doubtless lead us into a double or triple recession.

Then there is the immigration problem. With some ten million plus illegal immigrants living in the U.S. and more arriving any day you might think we would want to do something about it. Bush has a plan that would encourage even more. Our borders are virtually unprotected, both north and south, and Bush and company are unwilling to provide more funds for border patrols, I guess we will just have to live with it. After all, those Corporations that depend upon cheap immigrant labor are so vital to the American economy that they cannot be interfered with. Besides, if they didn’t have the cheap labor they might have to raise the minimum wage. Heaven forbid! Why should anyone in the U.S. make a decent wage when we can import (however illegally) cheaper labor? Besides, why shouldn’t anyone be able to get along on $5.25 an hour? After all, our CEO’s work for peanuts, don’t they? This is so sick it is unbelievable.

How about the national debt, now the largest by far in all of U.S. history? When Bush/Cheney took office we had an enormous surplus. Now we have the largest debt ever. This is actually Clinton’s fault, because if he hadn’t run up such a large surplus the current debt wouldn’t look so bad. And he did it by imposing somewhat higher taxes on those who could afford it the least – the already filthy, obscenely rich. What was he thinking of? Now that he is all buddy-buddy with the Bush’s he probably realizes what a mistake he made. I bet he wouldn’t do it again. And neither will Hilary.

We also have a little problem, it appears, with our infrastructure. The Civil Engineers, or whoever they are, have reviewed the U.S. infrastructure and reported that at best it rates a “D.” For those of you who are not familiar with such grades this means barely above a complete failure. Somewhere I saw that the projected price to remedy this situation is somewhere in one and a half trillion dollar range. Sorry, we just can’t afford it, what with tax breaks for the rich, expenses in Afghanistan and Iraq, war profiteering for Halliburton and others, and what have you. Besides, who needs infrastructure when the Rapture is imminent?

In all fairness, the degeneration of our infrastructure cannot be blamed on the Bush/Cheney Administration, even though they are trying to hurry it along as fast as they can. This is an absolute national scandal that goes back through several administrations. Where in the hell were our Congresspersons and Senators while our country was falling further and further behind and ignoring these obvious problems? Why were there no funds for our schools, highways, bridges, hospitals, airports, railroads, lakes and rivers, national parks and so on? Why were all of these necessary and indispensable institutions allowed to just wither away until it is almost too late to fix them? Where in the hell was our “government” all of these years? This is not something that just happened overnight. It’s not as if we haven’t paid our taxes all these years. Oh, yeah, I forget, we had to spend more on defense that the fifteen other largest nations on earth, and bombs and stuff are expensive, especially when you use them indiscriminately around the world. Empire costs money, and you do want Empire don’t you? We have to make the world save for Exxon, General Electric, Halliburton, Shell, Enron, Pfizer, and all those other noble enterprises who are only interested in the public good.

And so what is our illustrious chief nitwit doing about all this? Why, he is spending 60 days visiting 60 cities to spread his concern about the crisis confronting Social Security, a perfectly sound program that is funded at least until 2042. Oh, I forgot about Medicare. Well, never mind.

Excercise - essay

Politics! I absolutely cannot take any more at the moment. This country and the world are so totally in a disaster mode that I am rendered momentarily speechless. Here is another essay to take our minds off the disaster that is not so quietly enfolding.

I'm not opposed to exercise. Far from it. Or at least kind of far from it. But I confess that if it's not associated with some kind of game - tennis, soccer, basketball, even golf - I find it boring. I've tried jogging. Boring. I've tried swimming laps. Double boring. I walk. Boring. Even so, can there be anything more boring than an exercise machine. A treadmill, for example. If walking outdoors on a beautiful sunny day is boring, walking inside on a treadmill has to be quadruple boring (unless, maybe, if there's something good on TV - a rarity, these days). Adding little handles you pull at the same time you walk, while perhaps giving a bit more exercise, does not make it any the less boring. And how about those stair-stepping machines? You know, you stand in one place pumping one foot after the other, pretending your climbing stairs. Makes you wonder why people don't just climb stairs. Even if they don't happen to have any, stairs are not difficult to find. Frankly, climbing stairs, unless they lead to a bar or disco or something, is every bit as boring as any other of these activities.
Of course there's always those Nordic Track machines where you simulate cross-country skiing. I have no doubt they may be an excellent form of exercise but what do you see as you engage in this make believe? Your bedroom or living room wall, no doubt. Rowing machines, too, are supposed to be good for you. If you use them, that is. I'll bet most rowing machines waste away their years in garages and closets after perhaps the first week of eager rowing. And why not, what could be more boring than simulated rowing in your living room? Not much. The same is true of stationary bicycles. If people want to bicycle why don't they just go out and get a bicycle and bicycle? Why don't they get a boat and go rowing? Or get some cross-country skis and go skiing?
Oh, I know, the weather. It's probably the weather sometimes but more likely it's laziness. It's much easier to just pull something out from under your bed or wherever and sit or lay and pretend.
I won't go into weight-lifting and muscle-building. The very idea is boring beyond belief. And I doubt it does much for your health in any case. Just makes you more and more muscular until you end up looking like a freak and can no longer throw a ball or run a decent race. The latest craze seems to be "Ab" machines. There are various designs but they all basically imitate doing sit ups. So, you ask, why not just do sit ups? Damned if I know. You don't need any equipment for it, just a little space on the floor somewhere. Oh, I know, they claim the machines help support your back, or neck, or something-or-other. I doubt it. In fact, I doubt they are as good an exercise as just plain sit-ups (when done properly, of course).
The thing that bothers me the most about these various exercise machines is that they all involve lying. That is, they most probably don't do for you what they promise. But even beyond that claim, they insist on telling you they are "easy," or "fun". Where do they get the chutzpa to claim that spending fifteen minutes on a treadmill is easy? Or cross-country skiing for fifteen or more minutes in your living room is easy? I assure you that if you're serious about your exercise, these are not easy. They are even more obviously not fun. If you have ever tried any one of these various semi-scams you know perfectly well that the one thing they are not, is fun, and certainly not fun in the sun. Winston Churchill once said he got his exercise carrying the coffins of his friends. It might not be fun, but it's better than pretending.

Flotsam

There seems to be a great deal going on but nothing ever seems to really happen. The Canadians are in hot water with the U.S. Administration because they are too intelligent to want to get mixed up in a totally failed missile defense program. Condi Rice has postponed her trip to Canada because of her disappointment with their failure to jump on board this ridiculous waste of money and time. I guess it's not a waste of money if you are a defense contractor on the receiving end.

The Gannon/Guckert fiasco continues but only barely. The major media, both print and television just won't touch it, but it survives on the web. It is obvious that the Secret Service ducked the questions they were asked to answer. As far as I know the White House is still totally silent on this unbelievable scandal. Will it just eventually disappear like all the rest of their scandals?

The Italians are furious over the attack on their reporter. Their story of what happened is totaly contrary to the U.S. story. The U.S. says the car was speeding, the Italians say it was not. The U.S. says they warned it to stop, the Italians say there was no warning. Indeed, the Italians say the U.S. had been advised that the car was coming with the freed hostage. The only thing they seem to agree on is that it was an accident. As the U.S. (the Bush/Cheney Administration) has never told the truth about anything it is difficult not to believe the Italian version. This Administration has absoluely no credibility, a situation of their own making.

USA Next is being sued for 25 million dollars by the gay couple whose photo was used without permission. While they will never receive such compensation they do have a strong case, so let's hope they get enough to put these disgusting charlatans out of business for a long time. Hopefully forever.

Finally, the White House has now admitted they have no idea what Bush is talking about when it comes to Social Security reform. It seems he has suddenly began talking about an "add-on" to the program which is totally unlike what he has said before. If you examine what he apparently said it is obvious that he himself has no idea what the hell he's talking about. Does that surprise anyone? This whole Social Security business is really just designed to keep our minds off the dismal record of this Administration when it comes to Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy, torture, war profiteering, and etc.

The Bush/Cheney spon on what is happening in he Middle East is so far from what is actually happening as to be unbelievable. Oh, yes, democracy is coming to the Middle East, just look at Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Libya, and others and you can just see it marching on.

Right wingers here do not know who Katherine Harris is. Never heard of her. Does that tell you anything?

Gannon/Guckert

Gannon/Guckert - Gannon/Guckert - Gannon/Guckert - Gannon/Guckert - Gannon/Guckert

The scandal that so far refuses to go away. Now the Secret Service is lying about it while as far as I know the White House is still silent. In a letter to Conyers and Slaughter the Secret Service claims there was nothing unusual about Gannon/Guckert getting repeated day passes to the White House Press Corps. This is obvious balderdash, to put it mildly. Apparently the White House is up to its usual trick, just stonewall, stonewall, until the whole issue just dies down and disappears along with all the other scandals. It has certainly worked for them up until now so why not try it again? Democrats absolutely must not give up on this one. Keep the pressure on until they have to respond. This is potentially far worse than the Monica episode and it cannot just be allowed to disappear.

American hypocrisy (at least as represented by Bush/Cheney) knows no bounds. Now we are "demanding" that Syria withdraw immediately from Lebanon. Ignore for the moment the logistical impossibility of an immediate withdrawal, consider the question of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Why should not Israel have to immediately withdraw from their occupied lands? Israel has illegally occupied Palestinian land for far longer than Syria has been in Lebanon. The whole world is aware of the American double standard when it comes to Israel, which is precisely why there will never be peace in the Middle East. I recall being in favor of a so-called Jewish Homeland, thinking it would be a solution to what was up until then a perennial problem. It probably could have been, except for the Israeli insatiable demands for more land and more water and more control, all of this continuing into the present.
And with the support of the "Rapturists" who think the Palestinians should be completely shut out of their lands this vile travesty continues. I repeat: THERE WILL NEVER BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST UNTIL ISRAEL IS MADE TO LIVE UP TO THEIR OBLIGATIONS VIS-A-VIS THE PALESTINIANS. And given the total mess Bush/Cheney and their gang of international criminals have made of the Middle East it may be too late even for that.

What's with this 60 days in 60 cities crap?

Watch 'n Wait: I agree the Salvation Army case is enough to stand your hair on end. It is obvious that under the Bush Administration they are going all out to end the separation of church and state. But what can we expect when half the country or so are religious fundamentalists? The Europeans think we are stark raving mad when it comes to religion - and they are right.

But what is with this Bush 60 days in 60 cities nonsense. It is perfectly clear already that his attempt to creat private accounts in lieu of Social Security is doomed to fail. So why is he persisting in this all out attempt to convince people who are already not convinced, and not at all likely to be convinced? I believe it has nothing to do with Social Security but is in fact just a smokescreen to keep our little minds off the failures in Afghanistan and Iraq, the collapse of the American economy, the multiple war crimes, the 34 or more scandals that have so far been stonewalled, and etc. They have to know by now that their Social Security scam is not going to fly, at least not in any foreseeable future. So why continue?
Obfuscation, that's why.

Eschew Obfuscation. Fat chance with this bunch of utter loonies. Please wake me when the nightmare is over.

Giuliana Sgrena

Why is there such a complete discrepancy between what Giuliana Sgrena reports and what the American military reports (or doesn't really report, as the case may be)? I have been loathe to accept reports that the American military has been deliberately targeting reporters but I confess I am finding the denial harder and harder to believe. I do not doubt for one minute that the American military, responsive to orders from Bush/Cheney, do not want us to know what actually is going on with respect to the killing of Iraqis, civilians as well as combatants, but can we really be killing reporters to that end? I don't want to believe it, but it is increasingly difficult not to. This is especially true given that the Bush/Cheney Administration has yet to tell the truth about anything. And Sgrena not only must have known about Falluja and other atrocities, but was also a left wing reporter. I hope the Italian government persists in their demand for an investigation until they actually get one. But given the record of this administration they'll be lucky to get even an acknowledgement that there might be a problem.

I see the Gannon/Guckert scandal slowly slipping away into obscurity just like all the rest of the Bush/Cheney scandals. If the Democrats allow this to happen we will know that they are basically part of the fascist program that is about to take over our country. What is it going to take to wake America up? Or is it already too late? I cannot believe the apathy and lack of interest that appears to characterize the American electorate at this moment in time. This is absolutely the most scandalous, dishonest, unethical, criminal, secretive, uncooperative, and fundamentally insane admistration ever. Can you believe that this small group of neocons who not long ago were considered to be the "crazies" are now in charge of the country? It is true, the inmates are in charge of the asylum - and no one, no one, seems to give a damn. I guess it must be true, people get the government they deserve. Has there ever been in the history of the United States a situation as dismal as this? Has there ever been a President more deserving of impeachment? Has there ever been a vice-president more slimy, dishonest, and greedy than Dick Cheney? I fear for our country and it seems to get worse day by day.

Secrecy and Privilege - good book

I have just finished the Robert Parry book, Secrecy and Privilege Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq. This is a fine piece of work that goes into detail about the various machinations of the elder Bush, the various functions he performed for Reagan and the Republicans over time, and how his often questionable activities were repeatedly covered up. It is quite clear that his claims of being “out of the loop” on the Iran-Contra scandal were not true. Although it doesn’t say this, as such, it also by implication makes the Clinton/Gore Administration, no matter what you and I might think about it, appear as a bright and shining moment sandwiched between the cesspool of corruption that was the Reagan Administration and the even worse cesspool of corruption that characterizes the present Bush/Cheney Administration. I heartily recommend it.

There is talk nowadays about how the Corporations have infiltrated and taken over our Public Schools. I would remind you that many years ago (1963) there was a fine book on how business was doing just that, The Pseudo Ethic, by Margaret Halsey. I think someone ought to reprint it.

Five more American troops killed today in Iraq. Ho hum, just another day in our successful attempt to bring democracy to Iraq. An Italian journalist who had been kidnapped and then released by the Iraqis was shot at by American troops, wounding her and killing one of her bodyguards. Whoops! But not to worry, she was a reporter for a leftist paper, and his eminence, king George has assured the Italians he will order a thorough investigation. Something along the lines of his investigation of the Plame situation no doubt. Or the Gannon scandal, about which the White House is still totally silent. Democrats keep demanding investigations which never happen. They might as well just be baying at the moon. The fascists are now in charge. So happy days all you Bush supporters. Remember, Bush hears directly from God so he can do no wrong.

Black hats - essay

I don't know how it is where you live, but out here in the northwest where I live there are men, granted a minority, that wear black hats. Big, broad-brimmed black cowboy hats. Now I suppose a man has a right to wear any color and kind of hat he wants. But didn't anyone ever tell these guys that only the bad guys wear black hats. The good guys wear white hats. Always.
While I'm not one to stereotype (usually), I've noticed that these black hat wearers do share a lot of behavior patterns. First of all, they never seem to take their hats off. If you see a man wearing a black cowboy hat you'll never see him without it. They wear them in the house, in restaurants, everywhere. I recently saw a man wearing his black hat for his wedding picture. In fact, I actually saw a wedding picture in which both the bride and groom wore black hats! I wonder if they wear them to bed.
Black hat wearers also only drive pickups. I've never once seen a man driving a car wearing a black hat. I suppose it could happen in an emergency or something, but I've never seen it. Never. And, while it is true that not all men with rifles in their pickups wear black hats, it is true that all black hat wearers have rifles in their pickups.
Another thing. Black hat wearers never smile. Or, if they do, it must be very rare. This must be part of the image they are trying to convey. The tough guy, macho, don't-fool-with-me image. It is inconceivable to me that they don't know they are promoting this image of themselves. Have they never seen a movie? Read a book? Most of them have probably seen a movie or two at some point in their lives, but whether they have read a book is extremely doubtful. Indeed, my experience with these guys leads me to believe they don't read anything, except perhaps an occasional comic book. This doesn't keep them from having strong opinions on things of interest to them. Like environmentalists, for example. Or liberals. And here where I live, on Californians. They despise these types. Apparently they get these opinions from each other. They are universally conservatives, often extremely so.
It is also a pretty safe bet that if a man has a black hat he will also have cowboy boots. Contrary to what you might expect, they do not ordinarily have cow manure on their boots. This is because most of them are no longer cowboys. There are very few cowboys left, even here. These guys just want to pretend to be cowboys. Tough cowboys. Bronc riders. Most of them use snuff and have that little telltale circle on the back pockets of their jeans. They laugh at city folk and say things like "yep," and "nope," and "shucks," and lots of other things I won't bother to mention. They are really big on bumperstickers. Especially things like, "Rush is Right," or "Hungry and out of work, eat an environmentalist," "Neuter anti-hunters," and stuff like that. You know, pleasant, well-thought-out, non-controversial, objective things.
These black hat fans also like big belt buckles. Usually silver, but sometimes scrimshaw on bone or horn. They have western themes like a bucking bronco, or a man twirling a lariat, or maybe an elk head or a deer. Outdoorsy stuff.
I have no idea where these men get the notion to wear a black hat. And it seems to pass with time. You don't see really old men wearing these wide-brimmed black creations. I guess when you get old you're no longer macho enough. Your typical black hat wearer is a well-built, good-sized younger man. They just don't look right on small, slender, or effeminate men although once in while you'll see these latter types. They look ridiculous in black hats. Somehow, they don't seem to care. Neither do I, really.

Republicans on the run?

All the talk now in our small Republican controlled community is about Social Security. And I must tell you there are few who support Bush’s plan to privatize it. The Republicans are clearly on the run, finding little support for trying to do away with this popular and successful program. This does mean it is dead yet, but if the Democrats stay focused and disciplined it will become a dead issue, at least for the immediate future. And die it should as it is a totally bad idea, the only real purpose being to start eliminating the Social Security Program entirely, as Republicans have wanted to do ever since Roosevelt signed it into law. So far Bush’s outrageous lies about the solvency of the program have exposed his attack for what it is.

Republicans are into hot water also over the Gannon/Guckert scandal that so far shows no signs of going away. Twenty six Congresspersons have insisted on a thorough investigation of this bizarre travesty – and so far there has been no response from the White House. The White House apparently thinks they can stonewall this scandal like all the others and eventually it will just go away. Let’s hope not. The potential here is just too great.

We have now experienced over 1500 casualties in Iraq, to say nothing of the 100,000 or more civilian deaths. I guess this is still not enough to bring the American Public to their senses. How easy it seems to lose sight of the fact that this was a totally unnecessary, immoral, illegal “war” that never should have happened in the first place. And there is no end in sight. Indeed, it may be the case this is only the beginning. They say people get the government they deserve. I do not believe the American people deserve this Administration but until they do something about it what more can be said?

By the way, whatever happened to Dick Cheney? We certainly haven’t seen or heard much of him lately. I guess he must be bunkered down somewhere cozy. Rumsfeld, too, has been kind of quiet as, indeed, have most of the neocons. This does not bode well for the future as they are probably planning for their next “war.” Let’s hope they plan this one better than the last one. I think this may be the time for “stop the world and let me get off.” Cheers.

Think 2006!

It would appear that Social Security reform is about to become a dead issue, at least for the moment. There is just too much opposition, and rightly so. However, Democrats had better be on their toes else Bush maneuvers them into a losing situation. Even if Bush drops the private accounts desire, if the Democrats agree to some other kind of solution, Bush will still claim credit for fixing Social Security. Of course this will kill the Republican dream of doing away entirely with Social Security, but probably only for the immediate future. Probably the best strategy for Democrats is to insist that Medicare is a much more urgent issue, along with the deficit, and thus leave the Social Security issue for the moment. After all, there is no immediate crisis in spite of what Bush is trying to get everyone to believe. The only sensible approach to anything Bush suggests is to assume it is a monumental lie. It always has been.

Idaho is supposedly the most rock solid Republican state in the Union. It certainly is one of them if not the most. So let’s see how Idaho is going to respond to the Bush budget which is going to absolutely decimate necessary and important programs in Idaho more or less across the board. Big cuts everywhere as far as the eye can see. I can hardly wait to see our Republican dominated State Government respond. Oh, they won’t mind big cuts in education. They don’t think education is important. And they won’t mind cuts in environmental programs. They don’t think the environment is important. But wait until they get to cuts in agricultural programs or timber. You’ll hear their howls all the way to the moon. It’s going to be an interesting year or two, or three or four if Bush/Cheney make it that far. I sense doomsday for this Administration. But I am often wrong. Damn!

There is a lot of talk about 2008. Will it be Hilary? Kerry again? Gore? Biden? Who? I suggest we forget about 2008 and concentrate on 2006. Let’s take back the Senate and make big inroads into the House. I think it may well be possible, assuming, of course, that the Republicans don’t control the voting machines again. Let’s hear it for voting reform.

Bush kissed Lieberman?

Am I just peculiar or what? After his state of the union address (I think that’s when it was) George Bush walked up to Joe Lieberman and kissed him (on the cheek, at least). I have not seen any comments to speak of about this rather extraordinary behavior (at least it seems very extraordinary to me). First of all Lieberman is supposed to be a Democrat. So why would Bush be kissing a Democrat? But more interesting to me is why would he be kissing anyone at all in such a context? Of course we all know by now that Lieberman is basically a Republican. But does that explain the kissing? Bush doesn’t go around kissing all Republicans, at least as far as I know. And he certainly doesn’t go around kissing Democrats (except Lieberman). I really don’t know what to make of this. Am I the only one who finds this both unusual and bizarre?

There is so much going on now it is impossible to know where to begin and there could not possibly be enough time or space to deal with it all. Let’s start with Canada. Condi is not going to visit that country soon because the Canadians, god bless them, are too intelligent to get dragged into the absurd star wars business. So now we are threatening Canadian airspace and bellowing about their giving up their sovereignty (by god, we’ll send our missiles over them if we feel like it). This is what passes these days for diplomacy.

Then there is the Russian problem. The problem is that Pootie Poo may be acting undemocratically and so needs to be lectured by our own Walking Eagle about democracy. Walking Eagle has done everything he can so far to destroy American democracy but this doesn’t keep him from advising others about what should be done. He has also instructed Syria as to what they must do, and is also still telling the Iranians what they must do. In fact, he is going around telling the whole world what they must do. Imperial Hubris is far too mild a description of this. Bush has not yet figured out that the world regards him as a dangerous laughingstock that has to be humored but basically ignored. It has become quite clear that the American Superpower is basically no more than a paper tiger when it comes to spreading democracy around the world. Sure, we can kill them all, but short of that we can’t do much of anything.

Gannongate is threatening to disappear along with the other 34 scandals of the Bush/Cheney Administration. The major media continues to pretend that this absolute scandal just doesn’t exist. While it lives on the internet, at least for the moment, it gets no coverage to speak of elsewhere. If the Democrats let this go the way of all the other scandals of this administration we are surely doomed. I’m not certain that most Americans have even heard of it. You can bet your life that had it occurred under the Clinton Administration everyone in the world would know about it. As far as I know even Clinton, now nesting with the elder Bush, has not commented about it. Clinton, now a multimillionaire, has apparently joined the Republican Party. If (god forbid) Hilary were actually to become President the Republican dynasty would continue and WalMart would prosper more than ever before.

I would pray to the Great Mystery for guidance except so far I haven’t been able to acquire a buffalo skull. I’m working on it.

Our President, "Walking Eagle"

I don’t know if you have run across this as yet. If not I offer it here. It appeared on my email although I am not certain of the original source. It appears that George W. Bush appeared before some American Indian Group. After his speech he was awarded the title of “Walking Eagle.” Subsequently, when asked why they gave him the name Walking Eagle, they replied, “that’s what we call it when an Eagle is so full of shit it can’t fly.”



Years ago I prided myself on being an Independent and, as such, felt I could vote for the best person no matter what party they identified with. But no more. After what the Republicans did during the eight years of the Clinton Administration, plus what they have done for the last four years of the Bush Administration, there is no way I could ever, under any circumstances, vote for a Republican. They have proven to be the most dishonest, warmongering, rapacious, greedy, short-sighted, secretive, lying, devious, unfair, and irresponsible bunch of thugs and criminals ever to come along during my fairly extensive lifetime. I will never again vote for a Republican at any level of government.

This does pose a serious problem for me, because depending upon who the Democratic candidates turn out to be I might not be able to vote for them either. And as there will almost certainly not be a viable third party I may not be able to vote at all. Take Hilary, for example. Joe Biden, and I guess others, seem to think it will be difficult to keep the nomination away from her in 2008. I hope they are wrong. Although I would never vote for a Republican I would be almost equally unable to vote for Hilary. Not because she is a woman, because she is just another Republican-lite. Likewise, I would find it virtually impossible to vote for John Kerry. He was a lousy candidate. He seems to be a warmonger like the neocons. He has already been more or less discredited as a viable candidate, and seem to have nothing to offer but more troops and more war. I always admired Al Gore and thought he was probably the most desirable candidate for President ever. He had been a Senator and Vice President, with years and years of experience, he is knowledgeable about virtually all the important issue of our day, especially with respect to the environment and developing technology, and was clean of any scandals and so on. But when he chose Joe Lieberman as his running mate I had to part company (I did vote for him, of course). Picking Lieberman, in my opinion, was such an outrageous example of poor judgment that I don’t think I can ever forgive it. Lieberman is an absolute disgrace to the Democratic party, if not to the human race. I passionately hope they can find someone to unseat him in the coming election.

But, then, who will I be able to vote for? I am sad to say, perhaps no one. If it comes to this I might possibly vote for a third party candidate, as long as it is not Nader or Buchanan. I may regretfully finally just stop voting altogether. I am sick of what is going on and it seems to just get worse and worse. The only hope for the moment is that Dean can work some kind of miracle and get us a viable candidate that we can be proud to support. But don’t hold your breath.

Hilary for president?

It appears that Biden and others seem to think that Hilary has all but sewn up the nomination for Democratic candidate for the Presidency in 2008. I sincerely believe this is not true and I also believe it would be a suicidal mistake for Democrats. While there is much talk about the electorate being ready for a woman President I am skeptical. Very skeptical. Furthermore she has shown herself to be no more than just another Republican-lite. While this worked for Bill I don’t think it will work this time. With Bill palling around with the Bush’s, Hilary apparently on the board of WalMart, and otherwise receptive to the same corporate support as the Republicans, I don’t think the Democratic base is going to be very supportive. Of course I could be wrong. I often am. Naturally one would have to support the Democratic candidate over whomever the Republicans decide to run, how could it be otherwise? But please, let’s not have another best of two horrible candidates. There must be some Democrat out there who is not beholden to the Corporations and who would be willing to begin the process of disengagement from the big money. Where is our Roosevelt when we truly need him or her? I don’t believe Hilary fits the bill. Biden, maybe. We desperately need a charismatic candidate who will tell it as it is instead of trying to compromise with the evil empire that now prevails.

Sharon is already about to ditch the so-called peace process. When is everyone going to just acknowledge that Sharon’s Israelis have no desire whatsoever to see a viable Palestinian state? Why should they? With America’s blind support they have all the power. They can continue to steal Palestinian land and water, thumb their noses at the United Nations and everyone else, all the while continuing to claim they are under siege from Palestinian rock throwers and children. It is obviously true there are suicide bombers, and no doubt will continue to be until Israel give up their illegal and immoral occupation, but the toll taken by suicide bombers pales into insignificance when compared to the Israeli near genocide. There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the single greatest obstacle to any kind of peace in the Middle East, ever, is the U.S. support of Israel against the Palestinians. Why is it in the best interests of the United States to give Israel three billion dollars a year? Think about it, if there is anyone left here who thinks at all.

Still waiting

I am still waiting for Gannongate to make it big in the pages or screens of the major media. This is a truly big story, too big to allow the media to ignore or bury it like they have so many other scandals. This puts Monica and Watergate into small time scandals. We still have no explanation from the White House as to how and why Gannon/Guckert wss given repeated press passes. Did he even apply or was he just shoehorned in by someone in authority? Who vouched for him? Why? These are especially pertinent questions in that he had previously been denied such passes elewhere. If someone like Gannon/Guckart can get in so easily why couldn't someone else, someone with even more evil motives? Are reporters routinely searched for weapons? Was Gannon/Guckert sleeping with someone with the authority to get him a pass? Was there blackmail involved? We already know that the White House has lied about not knowing Eberle and also lied about Gannon. What else are they lying about now? What I have heard from Gannon so far it does not appear to me that he smart enough to have pulled this off by himself. Someone helped him. Who? Who was paying him? Why? How long? What other sneaky jobs did he engage in besides attacking Daschle? Come on, we have to find out what gives here. Keep it going until the media simply cannot ignore it any longer.

I have just finished Imperial Hubris and found it both fascinating and informative. I believe the author really knows what he is talking about and makes perfect sense of what might be done about it - even though I think there is no hope that his suggestions will be followed. This is not a book to be taken lightly. Of courwe anonymous is a conservative Republican, and his suggestion that we simply murder all the Muslims we can find to defend ourselves is a bit hard to take. I confess to being taken aback by his comment that Reagan was "a good a great man." This strikes me as about as far from the truth as one can get. But you should read it, it is most enlightening.

Dinner in Padua - short story

Watch 'n Wait: I'm certain that if Biden was the candidate I would support him. I think he would be a welcome change from the last Democratic candidates. But of course I would support anyone running against a Republican. I would have to hold my nose if it was Kerry, Hillary, or Gore. No more Republican-lite! I'm not positive but I think Hillary is actually on the Board of Directors of WalMart. That in itself would be enough to disqualify her as a Democratic candidate. I rather doubt that Biden will be able to get the nomination but we can always hope. After all, what else is left?

I actually heard as a news item on CNN this morning that the Pope ate ten biscuits and some yogurt for breakfast. I was happy to hear that. When I woke up I thought to myself: I wonder what the Pope is having for breakfast this morning.

I am so fed up with the whole business of politics for the moment I will escape with another short story.

Dinner in Padua


Will was not the kind of person to take advice; didn't even listen to it as near as I could tell. He certainly wouldn't take advice from his daughter, even though she had traveled widely in Europe and had been living in Germany for the past year. Will and Rosemary had never been to Europe. They thought it would be nice to visit while we were there so we could "show them around." They had two weeks in which they wanted to see "everything."
On the drive from the Frankfurt airport to the city in which we lived they complained of the heat, a complaint that might have elicited more sympathy had we not repeatedly warned them not to visit Europe in August.
During dinner the first night they complained that the bottled water they were forced to drink didn't come with ice. The waiter, incredulous, was coerced into bringing ice. He placed it on the table in a shallow dish as though he were feeding his dog.
While Will and Rosemary thought bed and breakfast was "cute" they were unhappy with only rolls and coffee. The idea of serving cold meats and cheese for breakfast they found totally abhorrent. The coffee required hot milk to make it drinkable, but they were not accustomed to the combination and didn't like it. The salads they preferred for lunch were not up to their standards either; the absence of a choice of salad dressing they found unforgivable.
There was a huge, sweating, but appreciative crowd in Munich to watch the glockenspiel. Will, after having seen it, observed that "Disney would have been able to do it much better." Rosemary's only comment was that she had never smelled so much body odor in her life.
Will did entertain us with his recurrent accounts of battling the shower curtains. "These are the smallest showers I've ever seen," he reported. "How are you supposed to take a shower when the curtain keeps wrapping around you and clinging to your body?" Of course when the showers didn't have curtains the complaint was that water spilled all over the floor. "How in the hell are you supposed to take a shower in these things without getting water all over the bathroom," he groused. Often they could not figure out how to flush the toilets. "Why don't they standardize these damn toilets?" Will complained. "Sometimes they have a button to push! Sometimes they have something to pull up and let go of! Sometimes the lever is on one side and sometimes on the other! Sometimes you can't even find anything to push or pull! The last thing Rosemary said as she was getting on the plane to return home was "I can hardly wait to get home and have a real shower. I haven't felt clean for two weeks."
Castles on the Rhine had little appeal for either of them. "They wouldn't last a minute nowadays," Will asserted, "what with airplanes and bombs and all."
"They don't keep them up very well, do they?" Rosemary commented. "They must have been terribly uncomfortable to live in."
So fearful were they of the roads in Switzerland they scarcely noticed the Alps. They did observe that things were expensive and that they could get them cheaper at home.
Venice was crowded. There was no hope of getting a hotel. "You'd think if you were willing to pay for it you could get a room anywhere," Will grumbled angrily.
"We told you not to come in August," his daughter said sweetly in her best "I told you so" accent.
We found rooms in Padua. Will insisted on the most expensive, apparently out of spite. We returned to Venice the following morning where we waited for over an hour to park. Then we waited in another line for that long again to board a flagrantly overloaded water taxi. It was seasonally hot and exceptionally humid. The narrow streets were packed with smelly, rude, overripe humanity who flowed through them by the thousands like living torrents of uncontrollable lava. You could scarcely breathe and when you did you wished you hadn't. What was worse as far as Rosemary was concerned was that you could scarcely shop. "People shouldn't come to Europe," she had announced the first day, "unless they want to shop." By the time we returned to Padua that evening we desperately needed respite. We suggested they dine without us.
"You should have seen us last night," Will announced proudly the next morning. We were headed north to Austria with Will driving the car we had rented at his request (for more than we would have had to pay had he rented it through an agency 'back home'). "We went to that American Bar. They have a restaurant there too, you know. It was so funny. The waiter couldn't speak a word of English. We couldn't read the Italian menu so we asked for a menu in English. He looked all over and couldn't seem to find one."
"I think he was embarrassed," Rosemary added, "He wouldn't have anything to do with us. We kept motioning to him but he just ignored us for the longest time."
"Yeah, every time he came near he'd say something we took to be 'just a minute' and then he'd be gone again. There were two other waiters, too, but he was obviously in charge. He just rushed around everywhere. But he couldn't find the menu and I guess he was upset about it because he wouldn't come back to our table. We had ordered a bottle of wine which we proceeded to drink while we were waiting. Finally he came, still without the English menu, so we tried to ask him what different things were. It was really funny. My few words of Italian and his lack of English. He was actually sweating because he couldn't find the menu. Then he stood behind me and read everything on the menu to me, in Italian! As if I could understand it."
"It really was funny," Rosemary agreed. The poor man was desperate. The sweat just poured off him."
"The only thing we could understand was soup of the day -- minestrone. And pesto, we could get that, too. So we ordered soup and pesto for both of us. But then we had to wait again. Even though there were two other waiters it was obvious that he was in charge of everything and they just got out of his way. He was running all over the place doing everything for everybody. Then finally he brought us soup but only one pesto. We tried and tried but couldn't get his attention so we went ahead and ate that. Then...you won't believe this...he brought us two more pestos! So we ate them too."
"Your father ate two pestos!" Rosemary said, "I think he had too much wine."
"Me! No way. Your mother was blotto."
"I was not."
"She was so drunk she couldn't finish her dinner."
"I wasn't hungry by then, after the soup and all that wine. Anyway, you should have been there. It was a riot! That waiter actually did break out in a sweat over that menu. You could see it just dripping off him. It was fun, wasn't it honey?"
"Yeah, we had a really great time. You should have been there."
"I don't know what American Bar stands for," Rosemary added. "It certainly doesn't mean they speak English."
My wife, cringing in her corner of the back seat, looked over and rolled her eyes. No one spoke for several minutes. We moved at high speed along the autostrada. Will broke the silence.
"You know the only thing we didn't do last night that we should have done Rosy? We should have asked that waiter to take our picture

Gannongate is not going away

Canada is refusing to go along with the utterly ridiculous “star wars” program that the United States insists on pursuing. I say utterly ridiculous because there is no evidence to date that the program is even remotely close to working. Every test has failed, in spite of the billions of dollars that has gone into it up to now. Outraged by this example of common sense and responsibility members of the administration claim that Canada is giving up their sovereignty. Does this mean we are about to attack Canada? With this administration there is no telling. Canadians are sensible. Americans are crazy. It’s just about that simple. It’s not as if Canada has said they won’t beef up their security and cooperate with the U.S., improve their own military, and try to be responsible for North American security – but they don’t want to be involved in an absolute waste of money, pouring more billions into American Corporations to keep pursuing an absurd fantasy dreamed up by Ronald Reagan, a fantasy most probably inspired by one of his B movies.

It looks for the moment that Gannongate is not going to go away, in spite of the major media’s attempt to ignore it. Why should it? It’s the biggest story to come along in a very long time. And there is good reason to believe that it involves senior members of the White House as well as Gannon/Guckert. We still have no explanation from the White House as to how this phony reporter was repeatedly given access to the White House press corps and allowed to ask one softball question after another. Will someone eventually come clean or will this scandal just disappear along with Plame, 9/11, Cheney’s secret energy planning, and etc., etc? Is it going to be impossible to bring any of these guys to accountability? Ever? For anything? Even Durbin, who claims there should be an investigation, is now saying: oh, well, with Republicans in control there probably isn’t anything that will happen. Balderdash! He and all the other democrats should be dancing nude in the streets of Washington D.C. if that’s what it takes to get to the bottom of this.

It becomes more inconceivable to me every day how ANYONE could possibly continue to support the Bush/Cheney administration. What does it take to bring people to their senses? They are known universally to be war criminals. They are despised by virtually everyone on the planet. They have lied incessantly to the American people and the Congress, unconstituitionally gone to “war,” tortured, killed civilians, stolen Iraqi resources, destroyed their country, illegally bribed reporters to promote their agenda, placed a non-credentialled “reporter” in the White House press corps, engaged in absolutely shameful war profiteering, and who knows what all else, and still the Bush faithful seem to think they are wonderful. I used to believe that Republicans were just ignorant and ill-informed. I am now beginning to believe they are instrinsically evil, just as Bush/Cheney are evil. I guess nothing in life is more important than stealing and controlling oil. Oh, I always forget, we are just spreading democracy and American values around the world.

Proud to be a Republican?

So far Gannongate shows no signs of disappearing in spite of the Major Media’s attempts to ignore or downplay it. And why should it? This is a scandal a hundred times or more worse than Monicagate. Just how did Gannon get those press passes? We are still awaiting answers. In the meanwhile people are guessing Gannon must have been sleeping with someone in high places, perhaps even Karl Rove himself. You would think the White House would be interested in denying all these rumors and speculations but so far, nothing. I guess they think like with all their other scandals if they just ignore it, it will go away. I sincerely hope not this time. At some point reality and truth has to catch up with them.

Some people seem to think that the release of the Bush tapes, in which he discusses his marijuana use and his feeling about gays, should be damaging to Bush. I don’t see why. He comes across in those tapes as being concerned about children and marijuana, and also about not discriminating against gays. He admits being a sinner which the Fundamentalists can swoon over. And their release came just at the right moment to take our minds off the Gannongate scandal. I think Rove was behind this just as he was probably behind the fake materials that led to Rather’s downfall.

We are being told that Bush’s Europe trip has been a success, that all 26 countries have agreed to help with the Iraq problem. But it has been pointed out by someone that all of the help they have actually offered means they will be contributing only .5 percent of the training of an Iraqi police/military force. When you consider that France offered only one (1) officer to help in this endeavor it makes you wonder if Bush even perceives the insult. Furthermore there have been large anti-Bush turnouts in Belgium and Germany and elsewhere that have hardly been reported by the American press. I think it is fair to say that this trip has not been a resounding success, or even a success, or even less than that. Also going largely unnoticed is the failure to hold a so-called town hall meeting with ordinary German citizens because Bush is too cowardly to face any potential difficult questions and the Germans, bless them, refused to agree to questions screened in advance.

I guess Bush/Cheney supporters must be very proud to know that their champions are universally despised, have been illegally bribing newspeople to spread their propaganda, coddling fake gay newsmen in the press corps, making utter fools of themselves internationally, blatantly lying about Social Security, covering up their failure to prevent 9/11, outing an important CIA operative, ruining the U.S. military, failing to find bin Laden, being outsmarted by the Iraqi religious leaders, bankrupting the U.S. economy, and etc., etc. When will it ever end? Or is this it? The end of the American century and American democracy. Stay tuned, things can only get worse.

Bush the communicator

Do you think that George W. Bush has any idea of just how ridiculous he appears to others? Just this morning I heard him say during one of his several appearances in Europe: “The idea that the U.S. is going to attack Iran is ridiculous. But all options are on the table.” What was the point of that? He might as well have said nothing at all. In fact, it would have been better if he had said nothing at all. He struts around and tells everyone what they should do: Russia should try to be more democratic, Syria should get out of Lebanon, Iran should give up their nuclear program, Europeans should bail him out of Iraq, they should not sell arms to China, and on and on. He comes across as exactly what he is, a know-nothing bully who thinks the U.S. can simply order the rest of the world what to do. And you can bet that underneath those poses with European leaders there is a genuine distrust and animosity. And why not? Bush has seldom told the truth about anything. He has no credibility anymore. Europeans cannot understand how in the world he got re-elected – and neither can I. Of course he wasn’t really re-elected anyway.

It appears that Sibel Edmonds may get her day in court after all. And what a juicy scandal this will be. The FBI is going to come out of this with egg all over their face, and rightly so.

Gannongate is not going away, just as I predicted. Now the Democrats, and hopefully a few Republicans as well, are demanding an investigation into how an unqualified reporter for a blatantly partisan and very questionable news organization was able to get repeated passes to the White House press conferences. Actually he received passes even before he claimed to represent any news organization. And he was also apparently invited to White House parties. But, like, who invited him? Who got him the press passes? In short, what in the hell is going on here? Think money. Where did his money come from? Who was paying him? Beyond that, think homosexuality. Did McClellan really frequent gay bars in Texas? Where does Karl Rove fit in? How is it that Bush called on him by name? Why was such a person allowed anywhere near the President? This is a far bigger scandal than Monicagate. If the Democrats can’t get anywhere with this we are surely doomed. But don’t hold your breath waiting for Democrats to do much; they are as much a part of the same corrupt Corporate Fascist takeover as Republicans. Shame on both of their houses. Hope that Howard Dean and the grassroots will ultimately win out. It’s the only game in town.

Rove strikes again?

Do you believe that the release of the Bush tapes at this moment in time was simply a coincidence? Consider that Bush comes across as a noble fellow who would not like children to try marijuana as he did (probably cocaine as well). And he also comes across as a noble fellow who would not discriminate against anyone (gays). This at precisely the moment there is a growing scandal involving a fake reporter obviously placed in the press corps to ask softball questions of the Press Secretary and, indeed, the President himself. A fake reporter who, by the way, who also sells himself as a gay prostitute when not regurgitating Bush/Cheney’s desires to the American public. Of course the major media are doing everything they can to make this story disappear. And what better way than to release Bush’s previous “private” conversations with one of his friends, conversations that only show him in a positive light? If this doesn’t say Karl Rove all over it I don’t know what would. Perhaps it is going to backfire as there are now questions about who authorized the press passes, why, did Rove himself have anything to do with it, and how about Scott McClellan himself, known to frequent gay bars in Texas. If this had happened on Clinton’s watch he would already have been impeached. But not Bush. He could be caught having homosexual relations with Karl Rove on the White House steps and they would still claim it was simply a democratic dirty trick, if not Clinton’s fault.

And what about the security precautions for Bush’s visit to Germany? Totally unprecedented to the point where they actually have become ludicrous. I trust the Bush supporters are proud to know that not only is their President a known war criminal but is also the single most hated person in the world (next, perhaps, to Dick Cheney). I hope you can recall when Clinton visited Europe and people turned out in the thousands to cheer him. And he walked right out among the crowds instead of hiding behind thousands of bodyguards, snipers, helicopters, fighter planes, and so on. What I don’t understand is why Germany went along with this ridiculous nonsense. Actually, I don’t understand why anyone at all goes along with it. If ever there was a case of the Emperor having no clothes this would have to be it. But everyone seems to go along with it, treating this utter moron as the Emperor of the world, and giving in to his whims time after time. Of course the reality must be that behind the scenes it is really Cheney who is doing the negotiating. No one would leave it up the Chimp himself. But I guess we can give him credit for one thing – he has learned to read the prompter much better than he did at first. I doubt that he has any idea of what it actually says or means. But with divine guidance and biblical truths what more does he need? When, dear God, is justice going to catch up with these evil lunatics who are destroying our democracy and ruining our country?